Textile lap-forming machines



Nov. 8, 1966 A. w. STAFFORD 3,284,012

TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES Filed July 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I F0121 QMQA Nov. 8, 1966 A. w. STAFFORD 3,284,012

TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES Filed July 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I/Q'ZQ 2 .61.

ALFC. W 37 8, 6 A. w. STAFFORD 3,284,012

TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES Filed July 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 fla 1966 A. w. STAFFORD 3,284,012

TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES Filed July 6, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 M EC. W 9 2; FFOKD Nov. 8, 1966 A. w. STAFFORD TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 6, 1964 iness for processing in a combing machine.

United States ?atent C) 3,284,012 TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINES Alec Walter Stafford, Springhead, near Oldham, England, assignor to T.M.M. (Research) Limited, Oldham, England, a British company Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,410 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 4, 1963, 26,592/63 13 Claims. (Cl. 242-55.1)

This invention relates to textile lap-forming machines, in which a lap or roll of textile fibrous material in sliver or web formation is wound upon a bobbin, e.g. in read- Such machines usually comprise a creel for a number of cans of sliver, which may or may not have been drafted, which slivers are passed in sheet or web formation to the lapforming mechanism whereby the sheet or web is wound upon a bobbin supported upon two spaced driving drums, downward loading pressure being applied to a lap pin passed through the bobbin to ensure the consolidation of the lap. Said loading pressure is usually constant and experience has shown that in building laps of large diameter the outer layers are soft and difficult to unwind at the next processing operation.

It has been been proposed to obviate this disadvantage by augmenting the loading pressure with increase of lap diameter, so that the resultant force along lines connecting the axis of the lap to the axes of the respective driving drums is substantially constant throughout the build, and an object of the present invention is to provide an improved lap-forming machine in which this effect is achieved, thereby enabling the production of larger and firmer laps than heretofore. A further object is to provide a machine in which the mechanical movements involved in lap-consolidation, bobbin clamping and the dofiing of the completed lap are effected by the same motive unit.

In a textile lap-forming machine according to the invention the lap is held against the driving drums and the loading pressure is applied through the agency of a pivotally mounted motive means which is connected to lap loading means by a linkage means whereby, as said motive means rotates about its pivot with increase of lap diameter, the loading pressure applied by the loading means is automatically augmented.

Said motive means may be a fluid-pressure motor, preferably a linear-acting pneumatic piston-and-cylinder jack, of which the cylinder is pivotally mounted. The aforesaid loading means is movable in a plane containing the axis of the lap and extending normally to the plane connecting the axes of the driving drums, and it is connected by a link of the linkage means to the piston of the jack. The angle between said first plane and the piston rod varies as the lap diameter increases, augmenting the effective loading force acting on the loading means proportionately therewith, and preferably such angle equals at all times with the angle included between the direction of movement of the loading means and a line connecting the axis of the lap to the axis of a driving drum.

The loading means may be arranged for vertical movement, in which case the axes of the driving drums will lie in a horizontal plane, but it is preferred that the plane containing the axes of the drums shall be inclined (for a reason hereinafter mentioned), whilst the direction of movement of the loading means is normal to such inclined plane.

The loading means may take the form of an outer frame to which two longitudinal spaced members, each carrying means for clamping one end of the lap bobbin, are at- .ta'ched by pivotal links at each end of said member, said longitudinal members being hereinafter referred to as the inner frame. The longitudinals of the inner frame and 3,284,012 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 effect is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the improved lap-forming machine, FIGS. 2a to 2f are a series of diagrams illustrating the relative positions of the parts throughout a cycle of operations of the machine, and FIG. 3 is a fragmentary and partly sectional View, drawn to a larger scale, showing the means employed for supporting the lap-bobbin, the right and left-hand sides of the figure respectively depicting the arrangement of the parts at the commencement and termination of a cycle.

As will be seen from FIG 1, the machine incorporates two spaced driving drums 10, 11 which support and drive a lap 13 as it is built by winding upon a bobbin 12 a sheet 14, compounded from a plurality of superposed webs 131 which are formed from separately drafted slivers, and passed through a stack of calender rolls 15 to the bobbin 12. As the lap 13 is wound about the bobbin, and its diameter gradually increases it eventually reaches the maximum size in which the bobbin is indicated by the numeral 121. Said bobbin is carried (as hereinafter described with reference to FIG. 3) by a lap-loading assembly generally indicated at 16 and incorporating a cross bar 17 by which the assembly is connected to the piston rod 18 of a pneumatic jack 19 which operates when pressurized to apply loading pressure to the lap so as to ensure the consolidation of the successive layers of the sheet 14 wound thereon, the cylinder of the jack being pivotally mounted at 20 in order that it may accommodate itself to the changing position of the lap-loading assembly during the lap-forming cycle. Pressure may be applied to the jack cylinder through a valve 21, and the cylinder chamber on the other side of the piston may be furnished With a pressure-release valve 22 (FIGS. 2a etc.).

The loading assembly 16 is movable in a plane XX which contains the axis of the bobbin 12 and which extends normally to the plane containing the axes of the drums 10 and 11, and the arrangement of the jack 19 is such that the angle between the axis of the piston rod and said plane XX remains equal throughout a lap-forming cycle to the angle between said plane XX and a plane e.g. the plane YY, containing the axes of the bobbin 12 and one of the drums 10, 11. Disregarding the effect of the weight of the lap 13 and the loading assembly 16, the reactions of the lap 13 on the two drums 10 and 11 will be equal, and provided a constant force be applied by the jack 19, the reactions on the drums will remain constant as the lap diameter increases.

To facilitate automatic dofling of the completed laps, the driving drums 10, 11 are preferably disposed with their axes lying in a plane inclined to the floor line at an angle of approximately 40; although this arrangement results in a certain unbalance in the resultant loads between the lap and the respective drums, the discrepancy is small and negligible in comparison with the high loads applied by the pneumatic jack.

The. loading assembly 16 comprises a pair of outer frames 30 and a pair of inner frames 31. The outer frames 30 are spaced apart by the cross-bar 17 and are maintained in parallel relationship with the inner frames 31 by pairs of parallel links 32 so that relative longitudinal movement between the inner and outer frames 31 and 30 respectively causes the inner frames 31 to move transversely, i.e., towards and away from each other. Each inner frame 31 has mounted for rotation thereon an end plate 33 having a hub portion 34 which is supported by a bearing 35 upon an axle or stub shaft 36 extending inwardly from the inner frame 31. An annnular recess 37 in the hub 34 accommodates a clamping ring 38 which is guided for sliding movement within said recess 37 by a number of pins 39 secured to the hub 34. The clamping ring 38 is urged inwardly by a stack of resilient compressible washers 40 within limits imposed by a number of pins 41 secured to the clamping ring 38 and arranged to engage a face 42 in the hub 34. When the inner frames 31 move inwardly, the clamping rings 38 move from an inoperative position in which they are flush with the face of the end plates 33 to an operative position in which they engage the ends of the co-axially aligned bobbin 12 and are depressed within the recess 37 against the ac- 7 tion of the resilient washers 40. The bobbin 12 is thus firmly gripped by the end plates 33 with a force dependent upon the strength of the resilient washers 40 and the extent of the inward movement of the inner frames 31. Longitudinal movement of the outer frames is guided by rollers 301 running in tracks 302.

Referring now to FIGS. 2a to 2 it will be seen that one of the inner frames 31 carries an abutment 60, the impingement of which against a resilient stop 63 and a fixed stop 64 is arranged to govern the respective limits of longitudinal movement of the inner frames. The outer frames 30 are provided with stops 65 for the purpose hereinafter described.

In operation, when an empty bobbin 12 has been placed on the driving drums 10, 11 following the dofl'lng of a complete lap, the loading assembly 16 is allowed to descend under its own weight by allowing air to escape from the valve 21. When the loading assembly 16 approaches its lowermost position as shown in FIG. 2a, the abutment 60 engages the resilient stop 63 causing the inner frames 31 to lag behind the outer frames 30,

so that links 32 move over their dead centre position (FIG. 2b), in which the end-plates 33 occupy their most closely approached position and therefore exert a maximum clamping force on the ends of the lap bobbin 12. The pneumatic jack 19 is now energised to exert a downward pull on the outer frames 30, bringing them to a slightly lower position (FIG. 20) in which the abutment 60 remains in engagement with the resilient stop 63. The links 32 have now passed their dead centre position and the inner frames 31 abut against the stops 65 on the outer frames 30 so that they are locked with a toggle action against displacement by outwardly acting forces tending to release the bobbin 12. The small amount of relative outward movement of the end-plates 33 which occurs during this locking operation is compensated by the resilient washers 40 and the clamping force on the bobbin 12 is maintained.

The bobbin 12 is clamped when it is slightly higher than the position which it Will occupy at the commencement of the winding operation, so that it is brought into operative contact with the driving drums and 11-by the downward movement of the outer frames 30 when the jack 19 is operated to effect the aforementioned locking action. The resilient stop 63 protects the inner frames 31 from excessive loading at the locking operation, the greater part of the pull exerted by the jack 19 being transmitted to the bobbin 12 (FIG.

The sheet 14 is now fed to the bobbin 12 and the winding operation commences, the automatic release valve 22 serving to maintain a constant loading force, during the build of the lap, as the two pairs of frames 30 and 31 v :are drawn upwardly (FIG. Zn) in their relatively locked condition against the restraint imposed by the jack 19 which restraint is elfective to ensure the required firm consolidation of the lap 13 as its diameter increases.

When the lap is complete (FIG. 2c), the jack 19 is reversed and the loading assembly 16 is lifted to raise the lap 13 out of contact with the driving drums 10 and 11.

At this stage the abutment 69 on the inner frame 31 engages the fixed stop 64, with the result that the continuing upward movement of the outer frames 30 breaks the toggle (FIG. 2 and causes the end-plates 30 to withdraw from the bobbin 12, when the lap is free to roll away to a lap removal station, passing over a pivoted flap 66 and table 67 on to a conveyor 68.

A new lap bobbin 12 is placed upon the drums 10, 11 automatically as the loading assembly 16 descends to the position (FIG. 2a) in which the next cycle is started. An abutment 54 on the assembly 16 abuts against a bowl 511 on a. lever 51 which is pivoted intermediate its ends and by which a carrier 50 is caused to rotate clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1, a pocket 55 on the carrier removing the endmost bobbin 12 from a magazine indicated generally at 57 and raising it to the operative position, the flap 66 yielding to allow the bobbin to pass. The carrier 50 is returned to its inoperative position by a telescopic strut 53.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A textile lap-forming machine wherein a sheet of textile fibrous material is wound upon a bobbin, comprising two spaced driving drums for driving said bobbin, said drums and bobbin all having parallel axes, respectively, lap loading means for holding the bobbin with the lap in contact with said drums, pivotally mounted motive means, and linkage means operatively connecting said motive means with said lap loading means for applying pressure to the bobbin, said motive means acting through said linkage means on said lap loading means for automatically augmenting the pressure applied to said bobbin during turning of said motive means at its pivotal mounting as the lap diameter increases, said lap loading means being movable in a plane containing the axis of said bobbin and extending normally to a plane containing the axis of said driving drums, a link forming part of said linkage means and an operative linearly acting component forming part of said motivemeans, said com ponent of said motive means acting through said link on said lap loading means for urging said bobbin toward said second-mentioned plane, the line of action of said component being disposed at an angle to said first-mentioned plane which varies as the lap diameter increases, and said motive means cooperating through said linkage means with said lap loading means for providing an effective loading force acting on said lap loading means which is augmented proportionately with the variation of said angle. p

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said angle equals at all times an angle between the first-mentioned plane and a line connecting the axis of the bobbin and the axis of a driving drum.

3. A textile lap-forming machine, wherein a sheet of textile fibrous material is wound upon a bobbin, comprising two spaced driving drums for driving said bobbin, said drums and bobbin all having parallel axes, respectively, lap loading means for holding said bobbin with'the lap thereon in contact with said drums, pivotally mounted motive means, and linkage means operatively connecting said motive means to said lap loading means for applying through the latter pressure on the bobbin, said motive means acting through said linkage means and lap loading means for automatically augmenting the pressure applied by said lap loading means to the bobbin during turning of said motive means at' its pivotal mounting as the lap diameter increases, said motive means is a linear-acting fluid-pressure jack incorporating a piston and a cylinder, the cylinder being mounted for rotation about a fixed pivot and the piston being connected to said linkage means.

4. A textile lap-forming machine, wherein a sheet of textile fibrous material is wound upon a bobbin, comprising two spaced driving drums for driving said bobbin, said drums and bobbin all having parallel axes, respectively, lap loading means for holding said bobbin with the lap thereon in contact with said drums, pivotally mounted motive means, and linkage means operatively connecting said motive means to said lap loading means for applying through the latter pressure on the bobbin, said motive means acting through said linkage means and lap loading means for automatically augmenting the pressure applied by said lap loading means to the bobbin during turning of said motive means at its pivotal mounting as the lap diameter increases, the plane containing the axes of the driving drums being inclined to the floor line so that a completed lap when released from said lap loading means is free to roll away from the winding station.

5. A textile lap-forming machine, wherein a sheet of textile fibrous material is wound upon a bobbin, comprising two spaced driving drums for driving said bobbin, said drums and bobbin all having parallel axes, respectively, lap loading means for holding said bobbin with the lap thereon in contact with said drums, pivotally mounted motive means, and linkage means operatively connecting said motive means to said lap loading means for applying through the latter pressure on the bobbin, said motive means acting through said linkage means and lap loading means for automatically augmenting the pressure applied by said lap loading means to the bobbin during turning of said motive means at its pivotal mounting as the lap diameter increases, said lap loading means comprising a dual frame assembly having an inner frame comprising two spaced longitudinal members each carrying clamping means for clamping one end of a bobbin, and an outer frame connected to the longitudinal members of the inner frame by pivotal links, so that the whole forms a parallel linkage in which the longitudinal members of the inner frame are capable of longitudinal movement relative to, and in a direction parallel to the major axis of, the outer frame, maximum clamping force being applied to a bobbin held between said clamping means when the pivotal links assume a dead-centre position.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5, said clamping means comprising in respect of each end of a bobbin an axle fixed to the inner frame member, a hub rotatable on said axle, an end-plate mounted with capability of limited axial movement on the hub, and spring means acting on the end-plate to urge it towards the bobbin to grip the same.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 5, including stop means operative to effect relative longitudinal motion of the inner and outer frames when the lap loading means arrives at a position at which lap-winding commences, and wherein the frames are subsequently locked to maintain clamping pressure on a bobbin throughout the winding operation.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 7, wherein the locking of the frames is brought about by impingement of the inner frame against stops on the outer frame with the effect to execute a toggle action of the parallel linkage.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 7, including stop means arranged to break the toggle action of the parallel linkage on completion of the lap-winding operation, permitting the release of the bobbin from the clamping means and the removal of the completed lap.

10. A textile lap-forming machine, wherein a sheet of textile fibrous material is Wound upon a bobbin, comprising two spaced driving drums for driving said bobbin, said drums and bobbin all having parallel axes, respectively, lap loading means for holding said bobbin with the lap thereon in contact with said drums, pivotal-1y mounted motive means, and linkage means operatively connecting said motive means to said lap loading means for applying through the latter pressure on the bobbin, said motive means acting through said linkage means and lap loading meants for automatically augmenting the pressure applied by said lap loading means to the bobbin during turning of said motive means at its pivotal mounting as the lap diameter increases, and means for feeding a fresh bobbin to the winding position.

11. A textile lap-forming machine, comprising two spaced driving drums respectively having parallel axes said drums being adapted to drive a bobbin having an axis parallel to those of said driving drums during winding of a textile fibrous material onto said bobbin, lap loading means holding the bobbin with the lap thereon in contact With said drums, said lap loading means moving only in a direction at right angles to a plane which contains the axes of said driving drums, so as to move said bobbin While maintaining its axis parallel to said drum axes and equidistant therefrom, motive means having a first element and a second element, linkage means pivotally connecting said first element of said motive means with said lap loading means, support means supporting said second element for turning movement about an axis which remains stationary and which is parallel to the axis of said driving drums, said first element of said motive means moving linearly with respect to said second element thereof along a straight line extending across and intersecting the turning axis of said first element with respect to said lap loading means and the turning axis of said second element, said straight line being parallel to a straight line intersecting and extending between the axis of the bobbin and the axis of one of said driving drums, at all positions of said lap loading means, said motive means providing a constant linearly acting force tending to displace said first element With respect to said second element.

12. A machine according to claim 11, wherein said motive means is a linearly acting fluid-pressure jack having a piston which forms said first element and a cylinder which forms said second element.

13. A machine according to claim 11, wherein said plane containing the axes of said driving drums is inclined with respect to a horizontal line, so that a completed lap when released from said lap loading means is free to roll away from said drums.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,045,469 6/ 1936 Jones 242-54.4 2,682,998 7/ 1954 Strassler 242-551 2,960,277 11/ 1960 Moser 242-66 2,989,262 6/ 1961 Hornbostel 242-66 X FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner. MERVIN STEIN, W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A TEXTILE LAP-FORMING MACHINE WHEREIN A SHEET OF TEXTILE FIBROUS MATERIAL IS WOUND UPON A BOBBIN, COMPRISING TWO SPACED DRIVING DRUMS FOR DRIVING SAID BOBBIN, SAID DRUMS AND BOBBIN ALL HAVING PARALLEL AXES, RESPECTIVELY, LAP LOADING MEANS FOR HOLDING THE BOBBIN WITH THE LAP IN CONTACT WITH SAID DRUMS, PIVOTALLY MOUNTED MOTIVE MEANS, AND LINKAGE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING SAID MOTIVE MEANS WITH SAID LAP LOADING MEANS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE BOBBIN, SAID MOTIVE MEANS ACTING THROUGH SAID LINKAGE MEANS ON SAID LAP LOADING MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY AUGMETING THE PRESSURE APPLIED TO SAID BOBBIN DURING TURNING OF SAID MOTIVE MEANS AT ITS PIVOTAL MOUNTING AS THE LAP DIAMETER INCREASES, SAID LAP LOADING MEANS BEING MOVABLE IN A PLANE CONTAINING THE AXIS OF SAID BOBBIN AND EXTENDING NORMALLY TO A PLANE CONTAINING THE AXIS OF SAID DRIVING DRUMS, A LINK FORMING PART OF SAID LINKAGE MEANS AND AN OPERATIVE LINERALY ACTING COMPONENT FORMING PART OF SAID MOTIVE MEANS; SAID COMPONENT OF SAID MOTIVE MEANS ACTING THROUGH SAID LINK ON SAID LAP LOADING MEANS FOR URGING SAID BOBBIN TOWARD SAID SECOND-MENTIONED PLANE, THE LINE OF ACTION OF SAID COMPONENT BEING DISPOSED AT AN ANGLE TO SAID FIRST-MENTIONED PLANE WHICH VAIRES AS THE LAP DIAMETER INCREASED, AND SAID MOTIVE MEANS COOPERATING THROUGH SAID LINKAGE MEANS WITH SAID LAP LOADING MEANS FOR PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE LOADING FORCE ACTING ON SAID LAP LOADING MEANS WHICH IS AUGMENTED PROPORTIONATELY WITH THE VARIATION OF SAID ANGLE. 